Day 1 on the Vermont Long Trail

Seth Warner Shelter

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Seth Warner Shelter

We woke up at 5am to get the journey started. We had everything packed and laid out in the room for an easy take off. Sissy bear was very unhappy about this.

We were able to get our car parked at the Greylock Community Center. They were very friendly! We started the journey on by crossing a footbridge in North Adams, which is part of the AT. We had to hike along the AT for about 3 miles, which was partly scrambling up the rocks to the top before getting to the registery box at the trail head of the LT! That was an exciting moment!

Sissy Bear and I use trekking poles, which are life savers at times! About a mile into the trail head of the LT I saw a porcupine! Poor Tiny Turtle was walking right behind me, so when it startled me I stepped back and my trekking pole hit him. He looked at me in a startled look himself. We all started laughing about it.

We reached Seth Warner Shelter around 11am, which is about 7 miles into the trail. We needed to refill our water supply. The Shelter has a water source but it wasn’t great. Sissy Bear looks at me and says, ” Mom it smells like someone farted in it”. Another good laugh on the trail. We met some awesome hikers at this Shelter named Baby Chicken, Daba Do, OD, and Gunho. The plan was orginally to stay at this shelter but considering it was early and everyone was doing pretty good, we decided to press on.

The trail became more strenuous with the increase in elevation then decrease then increase and so forth. I knew my feet were hurting but wasn’t sure the extent at this point. Tiny Turtle was asking me our mileage and if we could take a break about every 5 minutes at this point. He gets bored! We caught back up with Gunho, who gave Tiny Turtle a little pep talk to keep pressing forward and it’s just one step at a time. We pressed forward and about half a mile later, Gunho come running by us. Tiny Turtle looks at Bo Bonzi and says, “We can run on this trail”! He then takes off running after Gunho!

After 14.4 miles we reached Congdon Shelter. It was about 7pm when we finally made it. The shelter was full of hikers so we set up our tents in a designated tenting spot near the shelter. By this point My feet hurt so bad and I was barely walking due to the multiple blisters. Baby Chicken and Gunho were so helpful. They showed me the proper way to lace shoes depending on where the blisters are. For me, they were in multiple spots but the worse was the bottom and sides of the heels. They also said to pop the blisters, take it easier on day 2, and where 2 pairs of socks for added cushion. Luckily none of the rest of the family had any problems.

We set up our tents and Tiny Turtle hung out with his new found friends. They loved him. Sissy bear and I made dinner while Bo Bonzi finished setting up camp. We finally brought Tiny Turtle back to camp to eat, read his book, and sleep. It was a good night!